Christmas projects 2011

This Past christmas I enjoyed my 'Merry Christmas' banner so much, that I shared the love! I made one for my sweet little niece Lola and added some pom pom that I made (so much fun by the way!). And I also did one up for My other nieces Holly and Greta who share a room. You can see a pic from in their nursery below. Adorable with that sweet map print. My kids enjoyed the idea so much that Evan decided to make one for his teacher. He did every last blanket stitch by himself!!! SO impressed for a seven yr old boy.

 On actual Christmas morning the tree shone gloriously. It made me so happy to see the lights with all our ornaments lit up to tell the story of every christmas before. The kids on the stairs before opening. I made their christmas PJ pants and tried my hand at a nightgown for Vienna. I just love how they all turned out! I also made Housecoats for the kids and some hooded bath towels. (Vienna got a new full face helmet, which if you know my kids... she needs! And that's what she's wearing under that towel)

My Sis in law Katie made ME a quilt! Isn't it gorgeous!!! So much work! And so completely me! I was so thrilled to be surprised with such a treasure. I don't get many quilts made for me. This one sits so beautifully at the end of my bed. Thank you Katie for this gift!

 And I have the quilt that I made for my Sister for Christmas, still to come. I forgot to take pictures before giving it to her and so I have to steal it back for a quick shot or two. I really enjoyed making gifts this year I tried to keep it reasonable. I made a few other things but this was the bulk of it. Christmas prep was much more calm this year. What have all of you made?

Christmas Crafting

It feels so wrong not to have a picture to go with this post, but everything I am working on is so top secret I can't share! I am having so much fun doing it though. So much fun in fact that I couldn't bring myself to go to sleep until 4 am.... a couple of times. Kent does snow removal and therefore is gone for large amounts of hours at a time, and usually in the middle of the night. I don't like to sleep without him right beside me, so I sew. I have to tell you I have been getting so much done!! However my body gave last night. It made it very clear that I was not to take another snip, stitch or anything of the sort! It was time to sleep. SO I did and now I'll have to pace myself. I hope that all of you are having fun with your christmas projects. I love this time of year. Using both my skills and creativity in marriage to make things for the ones I love. There is just something so sweet about the anticipation of giving that can't be described fully. But I'm sure you know what I mean. I'll let you in on our plans for teaching the kids about such feelings in another post. For now I am enjoying seeing others projects pop up in blogging and I can't wait to share mine after Christmas.

Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Bunting

This was my very first Christmas project this year. I saw one in Anthropology that was similar and I couldn't stand to be without it! But at $180 cnd I thought I could make my own. This is my version and I am so happy with all the colour and vibrance. This is now hanging at my front entry and I think I can tackle anything Christmas now! One of the other plus' is sharing this project. Evan and Vienna both were eager to learn how to blanket stitch with me. Well learn they did! They helped do the stitching on all the circle and are now working on buntings for their teachers for Christmas. In total this project only cost me around $10 in used materials. SO FUN!!!

Photo Album Offer- Client Product

I have been busy 'making' albums for christmas gifts and I found myself wishing that my clients could do the same with their images. It is such a great way to get your pictures off your computer and in a place where they will be seen! The albums are so clean and fresh and professionally bound. Hard bound or Soft cover. Can't you just see your families beautiful faces all over these books!!!???

Now for the good part.... I am offering to do up an album for my clients, with the images from your session. The albums are 11X8.5 and the perfect coffee table book to brag with. You can either do it as a gift for the in-laws or just to have yourself! The books will have my personal touch to ensure a good flow. I'm only doing a limited number as we are getting close to christmas!! orders must be in to me by Dec 1st. Contact me with the info on my side bar and have a merry Christmas!

Hard cover is $80 or Soft cover for $75

The back of the book

Home made!

This Christmas we did some homemade crafting. I forgot to take pics of some fabric embellished shirts I did for my SIL and a peacock brooch I did for my other SIL. But here are a few of the bigger projects. (WARNING: picture overload!)

This first one was a blond wood DVD holder I got on Kijji for $15 and then converted to a kitchen with real taps and all! The taps came out of the rafters in my sis basement and we had the paint left over, and I made up some 'food' to get them started. Cookies and eggs. This went to my adorable Nephews! Super fun and I couldn't have done it without Kent's help, we were on a super time crunch!

These checker board quilts went to my nieces and nephews respectably. This was super easy to do! The tutorial was one that I found last year and you can find it HERE.

I did up some custom wipe containers that a friend taught me how to do. These were for my two newest nieces. Gotta change diapers in style!

This one was the big under taking! A crib set for Lola! You may remember the girly room I did for my SIL Daria awhile ago HERE. Well this is the crib set to compliment. I did it in the same fabric series ( Darla by Tanya Whelan). But a different colorway. So I patterned the quilt after my Pink-A-Boo pattern. I made scalloped bumpers, with breathable batting, and a tulle pleated bedskirt! I had so much fun doing this up. I set it up on Felix's crib to get the full effect so please ignore how absolutely wrong that blue wall looks next to all of this pink! But that's what kept me busy and away from this blog all December. Next year I vow to start these projects sooner!!

My Helper Evan! Sorry these are not great shots! I was in a hurry with a lack of lighting.

Christmas bells rang!

Christmas bells rang loud and clear at our house! I think the best part of christmas morning, was Evan. He ran into the room and went right past all the Santa gifts and went straight to a tiny little box. He grabbed it and run back to me and exclaimed " Mom I made this one for you!" That's the spirit of Christmas, the gift of giving, and he got it! My Mom went to great lengths this year to have a 'Nana club' to help the kids make gifts for one another and few others. The kids begged me each and everyday to go to 'Nana club'. Thank you Mom for making that happen! Here is a peek at our home this past christmas. Happy New Year to you all!